The Strings Of Life

by MLPxMaestro

Chapter Twenty One- Cards and Shots

The Strings Of Life:

Chapter 21- Cards and Shots:

For a third time in a row, Maestro had managed to hit the jackpot at another slot machine. He had never been so thrilled in his life. All these times of getting lucky, he then felt like taking it up a notch…poker.

“I’ve never been so happy in my life a I am now!” he exclaimed.

“That’s uh…that’s great!” Octavia replied, sounding like she was busy with something else.

“What are you…oh, keeping and eye out for her I take it?”

“Exactly what I’m doing, but I don’t believe she’s here though? But then again, I may be wrong, this place is huge.”

“Heh, heck yeah it is, I’m going over to one of the poker tables now. Care to join me over there?” he leaned in the direction of al of the pokertables.

“No, but thank you anyways. I’m going to just have a look around the place and see if I can spot her amongst the crowd.” She replied.

“Okay well, good luck.”

“No, good luck to you. You need luck more than I do, those ponies don’t look like pushovers in the game either.”

“Oh relax, me and my father play this a lot back at my place.”

“Okay, well you be careful then Maestro.” Said Octavia out of concern.

“Thanks, same to you too.” He replied.

They both then went their own separate way for now. Octavia was now floating around the whole building, hoping to catch a glance of Vinyl somewhere. As for Maestro, he was surprisingly quite the player at poker, but his confidence may have brought him a little too far into the game, as he chose to join a table with five other players in the back of the room…not for the faint of heart.

He approached the table, extending his hoof out to grab a chair, as the other players then grinned at him, some even chuckled a bit. He paid no attention to them, or tried not too anyways. He was now by accident, playing at one of best tables in Las Pegasus.
“Welcome sir, your name please?” asked the dealer, as he hastefully brought out a pencil and pad.

“Maestro…just Maestro.”

“Of course, well then welcome Sir Maestro, please have a seat and we will being playing.”

He then sat down, and winds up hearing a voice behind him.

“By the luck of Celestia, is that you Maestro?” the voice called out to him, getting closer to him.

Maestro then looks back, and didn’t recognize the pony.

“Who might you be exactly?”

“Oh my apologies sir, I’m Fancy Pants, I remember you face at that competition months back. I have the memory of an elephant you know.”

“Of course you do.” Maestro replied, turning around shortly afterward.

However his wife Fleur De Lis decides to speak up also. She approached Maestro as the cards were being dealt out and whispers something into his ear.

“I can help you if that is what you want?”

He then looks back at her, then looks at his cards and notices he has two threes, a six, and a two.

“Um…yeah, why don’t we go with whatever it is your plan is then?” he replies quietly.

“One question though to you then, Maestro…have you ever been to Las Pegasus?” she asks politely.

“No, it’s my first time.” he replied again.

“Oh, well then…good luck Maestro sir. It’s a different place than what you are used to in Canterlot. ” Said Fancy Pants.

“You don’t say? With all of the flashing lights and slot machines…I never would have guessed.”

Maestro then turns back to the table to begin playing, just as the dealer was stating the rules.

“Okay everypony, one-hundred bits to play.” the dealer states.

Maestro was surprised; he had never played in a game of poker so expensive in his life the most he had ever played in was fifty bits, and not over a hundred.

“This is outrageous!” he thought, but knowing he had no other choice, he pushed his chips to the center of the table.

“Softy…” said one of the players.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You’re a softy…we all tossed them, and you pushed them. Hah! Are you afraid of hurting the chips or something?”

“Nah, it was just a conspiracy against you to make you mad is all.” He smirked.

“Can it kid, watch your tongue here at this table. You’re in Las Pegasus now, you say the wrong thing to somepony, and you’ll regret it.” the pony replied with a snort from him thereafter.

He and the rest of the players keep playing, and Maestro is not doing as well as he thought he would.

“Buck! Again?” said one of the ponies folding.

“Darn right again, and it looks like this victory belongs to me once again gentlecolts.” The best player at the table said, after lighting his cigar, then blowing it in the direction of Maestro.

Maestro didn’t like this; he had already lost over eighty-five percent of all his earnings within just that hour.

“You know, uh…Maestro’s your name correct?” asked one of the players. Luckily this pony was actually a decent stallion.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Maestro replied.

“Okay, well no offense but…you suck.”

“I what?”

“You heard me…I said you suck, kid. For one, you don’t have enough money to keep playing in another game. Two, you were poor to start off with.” The pony stated once more to him, as was Maestro then leaving the table in frustration and disgust with himself of not being a good enough player to keep up with some of the best in Las Pegasus.
Another hour had passed, and Maestro was now merely sitting at a bar still with no sight of Octavia until she came out from between a cheering crowd at the bottom right of his vision.

“Anything?” he asked.

“No…not one sign of her for the next two blocks.” Octavia replied a little out of breath.

“Oh well…well hey, why don’t you join me in trying something I’ve never done before?”

“Never done before huh? So what might that be exactly?” she wonders.

Maestro then brings out a shot glass he got from the bartender when he wasn’t looking.

“W-what? You can’t be serious? Drinking…you’re kidding right?” she said outloud to him.

“Nope, I think I might actually give it a whirl for once in my life. Besides, it’s only gonna be a couple of shots is all, nothing major.”

Octavia stood there thinking in the back of her mind that this might not exactly go well for her.

About half an hour had passed, and Maestro was on his sixth shot.

“Aw come on Octavia…s-surely you can’t possibly not w-want one yet?” Maestro gave a mild hiccup afterward.

“Oh dear, I probably need to stop him.” Octavia thought, as she watched him drink shot after shot unsure of how to handle the situation.

After about another thirty minutes, Octavia decided to stop it.

“Dang it Maestro, cut this out now…you’re through here, understand?”

“Aw come on sweet cheeks.” He said closely to her face.

“Ew, you reek of booze Maestro, you don’t look so good either.” She covered her nose.

“Nah…I’m uh…I-I c-couldn’t…be…um what’s the word…”

“Better?” she added in.

“Yeah…better. I couldn’t be…uh…what’s that w-word again? Ha-ha! Wooo!” he raised both of his hoofs in the air then fell back onto the floor. Octavia was caught off guard when it occurred, and she stood there with one of her hoofs covering her mouth.
“Oh sweet Celestia, Maestro? Maestro…hey…hello?” she tried to shake him, but he was out it seemed.

“Ma’am, you might need to take him somewhere to get checked out, I haven’t seen a pass-out like that in a while, hah! It was classic though.” The bartender said to her, as she picked him up off of the floor.

“Classic? You think that’s classic? I’ll show you classic…”

“Hey, hey, ease up there miss, he’s just drunk is all. I just found it funny the way he acted is all.”

“Well he’s my…uh…”

“You’re boyfriend right?”

“Yeah…whatever, that’s none of your business anyways.”

“You’re right lady, it’s not…but you told me anyways, ha-ha!” the bartender laughed.

“Ugh, manners you have.” She replied, as she then proceeds to try and drag him outside.

“Okay Maes-ugh! Maestro, let’s get going now.” She struggled trying to get him outside.

Maestro then wakes up a bit to say something so out of the ordinary to her.

“Do you wanna k-kiss pretty girl? Or are y-you an angel? C-cause if you’re an a-angel…I can’t kiss you t-to begin w-with.” He chuckled with a hiccup thereafter.

“No…certainly no kiss for tonight.” She looked away from him.

“Then how about some loving h-huh?”

“W-what?” she shook her head.

“Uh…s-starts with the l-letter S…or Z I think?”

“Letter S…uh…oh my goodness Maestro, heavens no!” she said boldly to him.

“What’s w-wrong with l-lovers u-under the c-covers? Ha-ha-ha!” Maestro’s head then fell back once again, and closed his eyes.

“Ugh…what a rude stallion he is when he’s drunk. But…oh what can I say? I suppose he is a bit funny when he is too though.” Octavia chuckles to herself.

They finally make it back to their room, as she then lays him down on the bed.

“Here, why don’t you take a rest, hm?” she asked him patiently.

“W-where’s my sex!” he yells out.

“How rude of you Maestro!” Octavia slaps him.

“Hey! W-watch it sister…I j-just uh…d-drunk from this…face I-I think it’s c-called.” He hiccupped.

“Yes, it’s your face Maestro.” She facehoofed herself, knowing this was going to be a long night.

Hour after hour, he kept waking up, and then falling back asleep after he accidentally kept placing his body over her like a sack of potatoes.

“For the fourth time Maestro, enough! I need to get some sleep, you do too.”

“I…uh…” he then fell back beside her for the sixth time that night.

Octavia sighs, trying to keep her cool with him, but when he was drunk he was certainly an obnoxious pony to be around. Always asking her for kisses and sex, like she was just a piece of meat to her or something.

The night dragged on, and Maestro, four in the morning, was finally peacefully sleeping and old cold not to mention. Octavia could now finally fall asleep herself, thankful he wasn’t moving a muscle now, as she didn’t like him tossing and turning around in the covers.

“Oh thank Celestia…he’s finally asleep.” She thought to herself.